Sean Carroll Talks School Science and Time Travel

James Faville 4/20/10
Time travel is a fantastic notion that is embedded in modern culture and literature. This question is, is it possible? And if it isn’t, why not? Sean Carroll is a theoretical physicist and research professor at CIT (California Institute of Technology) who tries to find the answers to questions such as these. He recently published a book, From Eternity to Here, in which he discusses how time can only progress forward, not backward, and time travel to the past would be impossible. This is because of the law of entropy, which states that the universe began highly organized and becomes increasingly chaotic. Entropy is a measure of how organized something is - as a system’s entropy increases, it becomes more chaotic and disorganized. The reason we have memories of the past and not the future is because the past has lower entropy. It is also the reason why we cannot change the past, according to Carroll.

For centuries, scientists have speculated about the possibility of traveling into the past. Any science fiction isle in a bookstore will demonstrate that the speculation is just as rampant today. But according to some physicists such as Carroll, it is likely that the dream of time-travel into the past will never be realized. But does the theory of entropy mean that scientists will stop investigating new methods of trying to achieve time travel? Definitely not. As long as humanity endures, we will likely continue to push the boundaries of Mother Nature’s rules. The idea of artificial lighting was probably as unlikely to Benjamin Franklin as time travel is to us today. So while entropy explains much of how time works, never say never when it comes to time travel.

I enjoyed reading this article, as it offered a definitive explanation of why time behaves the way it does. However, I’m sure there are plenty of other theorists out with different opinions on the issue of time travel, and the article might have benefited from offering some alternative theories (although it was an interview of Carroll). Carroll also didn’t explain specifically why entropy would make time-travel impossible, other than simply blaming it.

Dreifus, Claudia. "Sean Carroll Talks School Science and Time Travel." The New York Times 19 Apr. 2010.

“Video Shows Chimpanzees Reacting to Death Like Humans”

“Video Shows Chimpanzees Reacting to Death Like Humans”

Chris Davis

Associated Press. "Video Shows Chimpanzees Reacting to Death Like Humans ." The New York Times. The New York Times, 26 Apr. 2010. Web. 27 Apr. 2010. .

A recent video, taken at a zoo in Scotland, reveals yet another similarity between humans and monkeys. The video showed three Chimpanzees “caressing and grooming the fourth, a dying female, more than usual,” according to James Anderson. After the Chimpanzee died, the other three were checking for signs of life. Once they accepted the fact that their companion was dead, the Chimpanzee’s daughter built a nest and slept next to her dead mother. The zoo’s head keeper said that the animals were “quieter than normal and lost their appetites after the death.”

This article is important to society because it shows just one more similarity between Humans and Chimpanzee’s. The fact that the chimpanzees were empathetic to one another shows that these animals have personalities just like us humans.

Overall I thought that this article was very interesting. The article was concise, and provided a new perspective on animal life.

"Researchers Find Rare Giant Worm Doesn’t Live Up to Its Billing"

The Palouse earthworm of Idaho was said to have gone extinct in the 1980s. However, two scientists discovered what they thought to be these particular worms while working on the prairie region in Idaho. This article was very interesting because it explained that there were myths about how these worms were massive, growing up to 3 feet in length. They were also reported to smell like lilies. However, upon the worms being dissected, the scientists realized that these myths weren't true. The worms were about seven inches long and there was no noticeable "lily" scent detected on them. Even though the worms didn't match any specific criteria, they were still a good find because a lot of people believed that the worms didn't even exist.

I believe that this article contributes to society because it opens new doors about species that must have been once extinct. There might be species that we have thought to be extinct but have been here all along.

I enjoyed this article. It was very interesting to read and it gave me a new perspective about something simple as worms.

ACROBATIC ANTS

Duncan Colquhoun                                                                                                            4.19.10

Chemistry                                                                                                            Current Event

 

ACROBATIC ANTS

           

            There are ten thousand to fourteen thousand ant species in the world.  How many do you think are capable of leaping, jumping, or hopping or can produce a fatal bight?  The answer is three.  There are only three species of ants that are capable of getting into the air by jumping.  One of which is the Jack jumper ant, which is native to Australia and jumps when agitated.  It has highly toxic venom, which allows it to prey on insects as large as wasps.  Another acrobatic ant is the Jerdon’s Jumping Ant.  This ant uses jumping as a normal way of transportation.  European and Indian researchers used a high speed camera and watched the ants jump.  It can accomplish a 12 to 18 inch leap by synchronizing its middle and hind legs.  The third and final ant is the Trap-Jaw ant.  It uses its overdeveloped jaw to propel itself into the air sometimes at 145 miles per hour.  This powerful leap allows the ant to strike prey with a force equivalent to 300 times its own body weight the researchers said.           

Giant Lizard Is Discovered in the Philippines

"Giant Lizard Is Discovered in the Philippines." The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. 7 Apr. 2010. Web. 11 Apr. 2010. .

Recently a previously discovered lizard was proved to be its own species. The lizard was originally spotted in 2004 in the Sierra Madre Mountains but was only found to be it’s own new species last year and the study was released Wednesday. Scientists were able to catch an adult and take a DNA sample to find that the lizard was new to science. This lizard is golden spotted and is 6.5 feet long. It feasts on fruits and snails rather than carcasses. It spends most of its time in the treetops and has claws that allow it to reach its favorite fruits. Many of the scientists involved say that it is a rare occurrence as well as that finding this species in unexplored forests in the Philippines could open the possibility to finding some other species there as well.

I feel that this discovery could be important to society because this could open up the possibilities of discovering more new species. These new species could be in the same place as the lizard or many other places. If more new species are discovered that could also broaden the overall field of science and different testing and such that can be done.

This article was overall a good article. It was well written, but it could have been longer and more descriptive than it was. They probably could have described the lizard better and more about it.

“New Hominid Species Discovered in South Africa”

The article that I read about “New Hominid Species Discovered in South Africa” discusses the discovery of a new species that lived over 2 million years ago. Nine year old Matthew Berger stumbled over this great archaeological spot while chasing his dog through high grass. Matthews father an American paleontologist had been searching for hominoid bones just a hill and a half a way. Matthew had discovered a fossil, the ancient remains of a 4 foot 2 inch boy, a little younger then himself. The team then began to search the area and came up with the boys extremely well preserved skull, and four other individuals. Doctor Berger suggests that the new species existed up too 1.95 million years ago, and most likely descended from Australopithecus africanus. The species were described as possible ancestors of the Homo erectus.
This article is important and significant because it gives us further insight on our past and our ancestors. These discoveries could help us learn about what life was like millions of years ago. It also shows how we are making new discoveries each day, and how hard paleontologists work at what they do.
I believe that the article should have explained what a Homo Erectus was, or an Australopithecus africanus, for many people these terms could’ve been difficult to understand. Also it could’ve gone into more detail about the discovery of the fossil and how they new what it was. Overall I enjoyed the article and thought it was highly informative.

"Rule On Lead Safety Set to Take Effect"

Navarro, Mireya. "Rule On Lead Safety Set to Take Effect." New York Times 8 Apr. 2010. Web. 11 Apr. 2010. .

In 1992, Congress forced the EPA to create a regulation on lead in places where children are in order to reduce the number of cases each year with lead poisoning among children ages six ande below. The EPA finally created a regulation ten years later in 2008 which will start on this coming April 22, 2010. Mireya Navarro discusses this topic in depth in her article Rule on Lead Safety Set to Take Effect in the New York Times. She tells us how any people have been filing lawsuits against the EPA to make the regulation happen and even to change it some more. This rule is aiming to fix building built before 1978 where lead was used without knowledge of the harmful effects it would have on children. Some of the effects that lead does have on children are neurological damage such as lowering of /IQ and behavioral problems. The fine for not working according to the new regulations is $37,500 so the rule will be self enforced. The regulation will cause many people to purchase things to fit the requirement such as a vacuum to suck in some of the lead dust, this will lead unfortunately to price raises. The main problem in this regulation taking affect is that many businesses have not been trained in doing their work the right way which may lead to many ignorant people getting fined unfairly. Since this new regulation has been passed, many have stressed to only use certified companies and hire only certified workers. This is a serious event that will affect the way things are made in this country for many years to come.
This article is very significant for everyone, not just construction workers. This will make the lives of children safer, extremely lowering the rates of children facing lead poisoning. People will now also have to be careful in who they higher to build things in their home from basements to kitchens to redoing older rooms. This is a great advance towards healthy building that does not affect the environment. I chose this article because the facts in this article affect everyone in the country. People are always getting their houses redone, or building completely new houses, therefore the importance is very large.
This article was extremely well written, but I would have liked the author to do some things differently. There should have been a more detail on what lead is and why it is so bad. I also would have liked some example where workers would be fined. Besides those two critiques, the article was very well written and I liked it a lot.